Gallop gulps at Tea Party attack

Foreign Minister Bob Carr ... “I think anyone who’s followed Republican Party politics would see that the Tea Party is one strand among several.” Photo: Andrew Meares

Katie Walsh and James Massola

Former West Australian premier Geoff Gallop has condemned Treasurer Wayne Swan’s broadside against the “cranks and crazies” taking over the US Republican Party as “absolutely wrong” and accused him of not behaving in a manner befitting a deputy prime minister.

Foreign Minister Bob Carr also appeared to distance himself from Mr Swan’s broadside on Sunday, emphasising the need for Australia to engage with both sides of American politics.

Trade Minister Craig Emerson and Defence Minister Stephen Smith both backed the Treasurer’s comments, but Senator Carr said from New York that the Tea Party was “just one strand” of Republican Party politics.

The furore began on Friday when Mr Swan said: “Let’s be blunt and acknowledge the biggest threat to the world’s biggest economy are the cranks and crazies that have taken over a part of the Republican Party.”

Mr Gallop said the Labor government lacked the gravitas of its predecessors and “they’re not going to get it by playing silly little political games”.

“Leaders of political parties do not speak about other countries in that way. I may think that, you may think that, but when you are a deputy prime minister you talk about the issue, not the personality,’’ he said.

Senator Carr rejected suggestions on Sunday that Mr Swan had effectively severed his links with the Republican Party with the comments and added that “anyone who’s followed Republican Party politics, and they’ve been on display during the very vigorous primary process, would see that the Tea Party is one strand among several in Republican Party politics”.

“And I just reinforce the point I previously made, indeed I made it to governor [Mitt] Romney when I met him. And that is all friends of America are looking towards a budget deal,’’ he told the ABC’s Insiders program.

Australia’s US ambassador, Kim Beazley, attended the conventions of both parties and Mr Carr said he had had a “good exchange” with the Republican presidential nominee last month.

“America’s showing very impressive signs of revival . . . the one thing that stands between America and banishing the talk of American decline is the absence of a deal across the party divide on curbing their very considerable budget deficit,’’ Senator Carr said.

Mr Swan’s intervention in US domestic politics has been compared with former prime minister John Howard’s 2007 warning that al-Qaeda would be “praying” for Barack Obama to win the 2008 election.

But Dr Emerson said there was “a world of difference” between that “and what Wayne was saying”.

He “absolutely” backed Mr Swan’s characterisation of the Tea Party’s role within the Republican Party: “The reason that Wayne said that is that there is this real issue of a fiscal cliff. That is, that taxes are set to go up and spending is set to go down around December, which could have a contractionary effect of around 5 per cent of GDP [gross domestic product],’’ he told Sky News.

Mr Smith played down the comments, arguing “some people are making a bit of a meal of this” and that the Treasurer’s remarks had been directed only at the Tea Party element of the Republican Party.

Separately, Mr Carr said he was “very encouraged” by the support received so far for Australia’s bid for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.

In his Economic Note on Sunday, Mr Swan hailed ratings agency Standard & Poor’s decision to re-confirm Australia’s AAA credit rating, before returning to US politics by praising the rise of organisations like FactCheck.org and PolitiFact.com in the US presidential election campaign.

Mr Swan said the government had “long budgeted for a decline in our terms of trade”. He said lower commodities prices “obviously makes it harder to deliver the surplus. But the fact is we have a proven record of delivering responsible savings – and we are ready, willing and able to do it again”.